William crouched down near the palisade and reached out his right hand and touched the wood. It was cold and damp, like almost everything else in the North. It was impossible not to hate all that cold, even though he was used to spending all those years here, it was still a torment, in his other life he lived in a tropical country, the cold was a short and rare event, now you can say that the damn cold was the only reality.
Standing up looking around he sees Jon coming towards him, looking away and looking at the guards inspecting the palisade and others removing those who no longer served.
"When will the training of the new soldiers end?" William asks Jon.
"Two more weeks and the defense training is over, I think from next week we'll participate in some training. "Answer Jon.
William looks east and sees some riders and the leadership of Ser Rodric and Ned Stark.
"Where is Robb?" William asks.
"Well, he's hiding somewhere..." answers Jon with a vague look, it looked like his soul was being sucked.
"Hiding?" William.
"Lady Catelyn has ordered everyone's hair cut, the King is on his way north." Jon.
William looks in shock at Jon as he hears the answer leading his hands to his long black hair without even noticing.
"Everyone?" William asked with a slightly vague look.
Jon just nods his head affirmatively and casts his gaze at Ned Stark who was already closer.
Returning to his senses, William follows Jon's gaze and sees his uncle. He gives a light greeting towards him.
Ned responds with a slight nod.
"In the next few days, you should stop your training and go with Ser Rodric to observe the soldiers' training. Ned Stark.
Without waiting for an answer, Ned looks at Ser Rodric and continues his way toward the stables being followed by the look of his vassals. Ser Rodric looks at his lord's back then nods his head at the boys and returns with the knights to the area where the soldiers were being trained.
William looks at Jon who answers with a look and both begin to walk towards their fate.
"Is it a short cut?" William.
"I hope not too much." Jon answers.
Over the years, as they trained together, the boys' relationship had grown closer, the barriers had slowly broken down and were inseparable. Even though Jon suffered from Catelyn's reprisals and couldn't bear the bastard's presence, things were eased, with William's help, of course, one day talking to Lady Catelyn who raised him as a mother as much as she did her children, well she had no problem with a nephew after all.
William couldn't stand Jon and Catelyn's suffering, and at eight he thought of a way to make things right. He asked about the day Ned brought him in, and Catelyn told the story, knitting her eyebrows she said Ned had arrived with two children, one being presented as her nephew and the other as her bastard. William already knew the story, he remembered, what he really wanted was to put a seed of doubt in Catelyn's heart.
Then I got with Jon... Uncle had fought the battles to find his sisters, and when he did, there was actually a baby, surprising, but how did he find Jon?" William.
William's argument had been simple, but the seed of doubt had been planted, Catelyn knew a few things, but not all, when Ned left for the war it was to avenge his father and rescue his sisters. Things going on like that she tried to talk to Ned, William didn't know what was said, but things changed, Catelyn didn't treat Jon badly, only with eyes of doubt.
Jon already had many things rooted in him, but the change from mistreated to just forgetfulness was an improvement without comparison.
A few hours after entering Stark's lair, three boys with cut hair came out with a renewed expression. Turns out it wasn't so bad.
"Let's ride?" Robb asks.
"Eddard won't like it." William answers.
"Lady Catelyn will be angry," Jon argues.
The boys look at each other and a smile forms on their faces.
"Go, go, go," Jon encouraging his horse to go faster.
Right behind him, William was similarly trying to encourage his horse to gain speed to pass Jon.
"Damn I'm the slowest, I can't even see Robb anymore," William thought.
After a few turns, they found Robb already disassembled, looking at them with a smile of satisfaction on his face.
"You're too slow, I've won again." Robb speaks to them with an arrogant look.
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"If you're that good take your sword, let's see who wins." Answer Jon.
Robb looks away from Jon and looks at William.
"What's your excuse?" Robb.
William slowly gets off his horse and lets him drink water in the stream.
"Do I really have to say who's the smart one?" William.
The boys laugh then.
"The best rider, the best swordsman and the best scholar? Is that what we are?" Jon speaks.
Over the years William's advantage hasn't had so much impact compared to the other two, but even so, no doubt the advantage was in the intellect, it might not be cunning, but it possessed an enviable improvement, an obvious talent for studies.
"The three most trouble boys I must say," says one voice.
Looking around surprised by the voice, the boys see Ser Rodric approaching with some riders. Laughing, Ser Rodric keeps talking.
"Or the three luckiest boys, perhaps. "Ser Rodric continues to speak with a more serious tone.
"A deserter from the Night's Watch has been found, your punishment will be delayed, Lord Stark has sent for you, you must witness the execution" Ser Rodric.
The boys ride their horses and follow Ser Rodric quickly.
Death leaves a bad taste in the mouth, to see someone beheaded for the first time is something horrible to describe, even knowing it would happen and preparing for the scene he was going to witness, William had to hold on not to vomit, it creates waves and those waves impact his mind, the shock is inevitable, he knows that death is inescapable in his path, he must overcome it, he must be better prepared.
As they return to Winterfell after the execution, William begins to focus on the facts that should happen soon and then he remembers the wolves when they would meet them? Would he have one? If it were as the story goes, he wouldn't have, but have things changed? Had he been included in fate?
The answer came quickly.
"Lord Stark, a soldier spotted a dead giant wolf near the river." Ser Rodric.
Eddard Stark was intrigued and approached some soldiers surrounding the wolf's corpse, as he approached he could see five children clutching their mother's tits trying to stay alive.
William and the boys approached, Robb grabbed one on his lap and looked at his father.
"Kill them all." Eddard Stark speaks with some anguish being transmitted through his eyes.
"Sir, the wolf is the symbol of the Stark house. There are five cubs, one for each son." This is Ser Rodric.
Eddard vacillates, the words end up touching his superstitions, his beliefs.
"So be it then." Eddard answers.
Ser Rodric sends the soldiers to carry the wolves, minus one, Robb would take his personally, of course.
A smile comes over Robb's once worried eyes, but to my misfortune, it was five, well it must be six. I look at Jon and see he's sad, he wanted a wolf too.
"Lord there's one more, he's the smallest was trapped over his mother's body maybe he won't survive," says one of the soldiers who were carrying the cubs.
Eddard looks at the white wolf in the soldiers' hands and looks at me and Jon.
"Jon is much better at raising things than I am," William tries to formulate a justification for allowing Jon to receive his giant wolf.
'I can't steal Jon's Ghost, it would be too cruel,' William thought to somehow console himself.
Ned nods his head and things are decided that way. Jon approaches the soldier and grabs the little wolf in his lap and then looks at me.
"Are you sure?" Jon asks with the worried ones.
"Of course, I'm not a Stark after all," William replied emphatically, trying to release some of his dissatisfaction.
"Don't talk that way, but still, thank you," Jon tries to ease the discomfort caused by William's poor choice of words.
Laughing William answers.
"Don't get me wrong, I love this family, but I'm a Corvinus after all, I can't steal the fate that should be yours that's a Stark, right?" William answers in a more relaxed and relaxed way, he wasn't lying, he was happy to be part of this family, everyone was important to him.
Jon doesn't answer, but he looks at William with a grateful face.
Ned, who listened to the whole conversation, couldn't help but have a satisfied look.
William is undoubtedly sad that he doesn't have a wolf, but that's the way it is after all, in his plans a wolf can help, but it can also get in the way.
"So be it then. William thought with more conviction about his choice.
Slowly approaching the giant wolf's body, he took his hand and began to touch the beast's head, the monster's mouth, still open, was frightening.
Sighing William thinks of the frightening feeling of encountering something like that, especially at night.
Passing his hand and tracing the contours of that monster was inevitable to lead his hands to those monstrous teeth, almost like daggers, frightening.
"Aaaaah" William screams.
Everyone looks in your direction and runs to see what happened. William held his hand in front of his chest, blood flowed to his forearm and reached his elbow.
"What happened?" Ned Stark talks as he gets off his horse and approaches William to see what happened.
William looked scared at the wolf and then at his hand.
Ned approaches holding him on his shoulders and asks again.
"What happened?" Ned speaks in a more urgent voice.
William looks into his uncle's questioning eyes and wonders what he's seen.
"The... the wolf bit me." William answers uncertainly, he doesn't understand what he saw, what happened.
Ned listening to his nephew's answer turns and looks at the wolf, and there was fresh blood in the creature's mouth, but he was so dead he couldn't have done anything. With uncertainty about what happened, he looked again at his nephew, took his hand to the hand his nephew used to hide the wound and removed it from the front and in the other hand where blood came out it was possible to see the marks of the creature's teeth, it was not a deep wound, it made no sense, a lot of blood came out, but if it was real the hand would have been torn off by the bite.
Ser Rodric approaches with rags on his hands and wraps around William's left hand.
Soon after that, they all ride their horses and return to Winterfell.
William was lying on his bed, the room was dark, but his eyes were still open, his right hand still holding his other wounded hand, he began to remember what happened.
At one point he passed his hand through the giant wolf's hair, and then when he touched his prey on the monster, he wasn't sure it was real, but he saw a wolf on the other side of the creek looking at him, the wolf was white and his eyes were golden, he looked at him and looked like he wanted to say something, slowly coming closer, he walked over the water, and then when he was in front of his eyes. Pain. He felt pain in his left hand and when I looked down he saw his bloody hand, not resisting the fright and ended up screaming.
"What the fuck is going on?" William spoke to himself, he couldn't understand the implications of the illusion.
A turbulent night awaited him, the fever came and embraced him.